Enchiladas in the Rain

It was a dark and stormy night. Two hungry, wet travellers sought refuge from the rain. A sign beckoned. The place was brightly lit, yet empty. “Do we dare go in?” “I don’t know—it’s kinda creepy.” They had travelled this far, too far to turn away now. They went in…

Or rather, slid in. The rain was coming down in sheets when LA and I pulled up in front of El Campeon, one of Kannapolis’s newest Mexican restaurants. We were both sporting flip-flops, which are not known for their traction. LA nearly took a digger. I nearly peed my pants from laughing at him.

The only signs of life were the two staff members looking out the front door when we arrived, but they scurried back to the kitchen as we entered.  The walls were bright yellow, made even brighter by the overhead fluorescent lighting. Metal wall art hung around the room, in an effort to make a strip mall restaurant feel more like a Mexican casa. The menu was small but had all of the heavy-hitters: tacos, burritos, enchiladas. According to the sign out front, El Campeon has all-you-can-eat tacos for $6.99 from 5-8pm. We studied the menu. The server asked if we were ready to order. Uhhhh, no. Give us a few minutes please. She made a circuit through the kitchen and back out. We still weren’t ready. LA was disappointed that there was no “cheese dip” on the menu. We were, however, both pleased with the salsa. Chunks of tomato and onion, plenty of cilantro.

LA, as usual, ordered a chicken quesadilla. I can always count on him for a thorough and eloquent description of the food. Is it good? Yes. Is it just chicken and cheese? Yes. I don’t suppose there is a lot more to be said about a chicken quesadilla. If there is, LA wasn’t saying it.

I, as usual, ordered the enchiladas rojas. The server asked if I wanted them “with everything”. I didn’t know what everything was, but I said yes anyway. A plate arrived with what I guessed contained my enchiladas. I was sure they were under there somewhere. The everything was lettuce, onion, sliced radish, Mexican crema, and queso fresco. I pushed all of that aside to get a look at the enchiladas themselves. I found four (!) enchiladas filled with chicken that had been simmered with onions. Rather than the typical enchilada sauce served by most Mexican restaurants, these were smothered in a spicy tomato gravy. Spicy may be an understatement. I actually noted “spicier than crap”. I forgot to mention that part when I told LA to try the sauce. I am a little bit of a spice wuss, so it may only be spicy to someone like me (or LA). Take a bite of enchiladas, take a drink of tea. That was my system. I went through a lot of tea. But the enchiladas were delicious. They came with the ubiquitous sides of beans and rice. The rice was fairly flavorless, or it may have been that my taste buds were seared off. The beans were from a can and very salty. I could do without the side dishes.

While we were eating, more patrons came in. One man ordered the all-you-can-eat tacos, and they definitely kept coming. No sides come with it, but I’d be happy with just the tacos and no salty beans or bland rice. For $6.99, it’s definitely a deal. When it was time to go, we asked the server for separate checks. She said “Of course” and walked away. Less than a minute later, she came back and asked if we wanted separate checks. We responded in the affirmative, and she said “Of course”. It was like déjà vu all over again.

I will definitely visit El Campeon again. The all-you-can-eat tacos are a great deal for dinner, as is the lunch buffet. I recommend it as a place to go with friends or family, but the ambience isn’t romantic, so it may not be the best option for a date. Unless that date loves tacos.

El Campeon is located at 900 Cloverleaf Plaza in Kannapolis.

Amigos Siempre?

I am a Mexican food addict. I could eat Mexican food every day and never tire of it. Authentic Mexican, Tex-Mex, burrito places. I love it all. Southern Colorado, where I grew up, has a very large Hispanic population, and Mexican restaurants abound. My fondness for Mexican food started early, when my parents would take me to La Cocina. I remember La Cocina being a very 1970’s restaurant, with carpeting and old sewing machine cabinets for tables. I also remember the sopapillas. Pillowy squares of dough, served straight from the fryer, with honey to pour inside them. If I do make it to Heaven, I hope it’s just like La Cocina. 70’s décor and all.

El Amigo is the “#1 Mexican restaurant in Kannapolis”, and they have the newspaper clippings to prove it. Why would I not want to eat there? They must have some spectacular food! I know I have high expectations—rice and beans are the first foods I remember eating (unless you count the lollipop that I had at my parents’ wedding). I try to put all of this aside and gauge the food on its own merit. Our visit on Saturday marked the second time that I’ve been to El Amigo. They seem to do a healthy business. I go past El Amigo regularly and have never seen an empty parking lot, even in the middle of the day. That’s a good sign! As always, my trusty sidekick, LA, was with me. I don’t remember the food from our first visit. It was good enough, but nothing stood out. What we both remember is LA taking a drink of his iced tea and our waiter snatching it out of his hand in order to refill it. When we left, the waiter waved and called out, “Good-bye, amigos!” Tea-snatching aside, it was good experience and we enjoyed being considered amigos.

El Amigo provides a comfortable and fun atmosphere, with murals and architectural details to remind you that you are in a Mexican restaurant. As soon as you are seated, the chips and salsa arrive. Our chips were still hot from the fryer. The salsa tastes similar to that at most other Mexican restaurants. My theory holds that there is only one salsa recipe and all Mexican restaurants share it. I ordered the queso fundido to get us started. In my heart, I know that I need to allow the queso to sit a few minutes to cool down enough so that it doesn’t run straight off the chip, but my mind refuses to acknowledge this information. LA and I both dug into it as though we hadn’t eaten in days and promptly dripped queso fundido everywhere. I’ve seen multiple recipes for queso fundido, involving fresh chiles, various cheeses, or no sausage. My personal favorite is the type served at El Amigo: a bowl of melted Mexican cheese, brimming with chorizo, with a layer of copper-colored grease floating on top. You can feel your arteries clogging a little more with each bite, but it is too good to stop. El Amigo’s was a bit salty, which I ascribe to the chorizo used. LA’s first bite garnered the comment, “It tastes like pepperoni gravy. Don’t ask.” I heeded the advice, although I was secretly curious about the pepperoni gravy experiment.

After only a few dips, even before the queso was allowed time to reach the optimum consistency, our entrees arrived. I prefer having a bit more time between appetizer and entrée, but I will always pick food arriving too soon over having to wait for it. LA was insistent upon ordering a quesadilla, but when asked by the waiter what he wanted, he ordered chicken enchiladas. He got two enchiladas in a “ranchero” sauce, with refried beans and rice on the side. The ranchero sauce is a red sauce more commonly known to gringos like you and me as “enchilada sauce”. I didn’t give it much thought until he asked me if I wanted a bite, warning me that they were “bland”. These were cheese enchiladas that were topped with chicken and smothered in red sauce. Different than what I had ever seen before, but I’m an open-minded person. LA’s assessment hit the nail on the head. They were bland. He was also quite convinced that the chicken was from a can, but I was unable to form a full opinion on that subject. While it is true that the chicken didn’t have much flavor, I chalked it up to poaching and a lack of seasoning.

I ordered what the menu called the “BTO California”. Based on the description, I correctly assumed that it was a burrito. I ordered it with the beef, incorrectly assuming that it would be ground beef. The BTO California consisted of a large tortilla filled with rice, refried beans, guacamole, and strips of grilled steak, smothered in white cheese sauce. Basically it was the queso minus the fundido. The steak was very tender, leaving me quite happy that I had made an incorrect assumption when ordering. My burrito had much more flavor than did LA’s enchiladas, owing mostly to the well-cooked and -seasoned steak. I offered LA a bite of it, but, upon hearing the word “guacamole”, he declined. The portions are large, even for the lunch specials. I took half of my burrito home with me (smothered in the extra queso fundido. Is there such a thing as too much cheese?).

My greatest complaints about El Amigo were not with the food or the atmosphere, but with the service. We were seated promptly, our food came out quickly, and our glasses stayed full. All good. But small things add up. Our waiter had a lip ring, which he kept biting. The constant lip biting was a source of great irritation to my dining companion, who self-admittedly looked like an “escaped mental patient”. The waiter splashed LA with tea while refilling the glasses and seemed quite put out when I asked for separate checks. The impression left with both of us was that our waiter did not like his job. While entering the restroom, I had to hold the door for a server who was exiting. I was opening the door and about to step through when she brushed past me, bumping into my shoulder. In my restaurant years, it was an expectation that staff would hold the door for the customers and not vice versa. Maybe I’m old-fashioned that way. LA said that he would not go back to El Amigo because of the food. The food is average or a little better, but it is the service that will keep me from returning. We didn’t even get a “Good-bye, amigos” when we left. I guess the friendship is over.

El Amigo is located at 1776 S. Cannon Blvd in Kannapolis.